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2 Sheets-Sheet 1., O. VATTIERQ OONVBRTER (No Model.)

No. 503,179. Patented Aug. 15, 1893.

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2' Sheets-Sheet 2.- 0. VATTIER.-

CONVERTER (No Model.)

' Patented Aug. 15, 1893.

INVENTOR: 291/4 By his Attorneys, 7 Y W allow 2%.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES VATTIER, or PARIS, FRANCE.

CONVERTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 503,179, dated August 15, 1893.

Application filed March 6, 1893. Serial No. 464,900. (No model.)

To a. whom it may concern:

' Smelting Copper; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

Great difficulties are experienced in protecting the linings of converters employed in treating copper. Such lining is formed of a mixture of fire clay and a kind of refractory 10am in the form of powder; after a short time this lining becomes destroyed, in particular near the tuyeres. The apparatus must then be stopped and replaced by another one previously prepared. The used apparatus is then cooled by a current of cold water, the lining is removed, a fresh lining put in, dried and baked. To the expense thus incurred is to be added that of sorting the scorified parts of the old lining, the mechanical washing of the residues and the greater or less losses of copper contained in the dbris of the lining, 860.

Many attempts have been made for pre- Venting the destruction of the lining. Various protective coatings have been proposed. In the hope of saturating the oxide of iron produced by the reactions otherwise than at the expense of the silica of the lining by the formation of silicate of iron, powdered quartz has been injected during the operation,.but

the friction of the quartz soon Wore out the tuyeres and rendered them useless. In addition, this quartz did not act beneficially; it caked the mass, without combining, and it was found almost intact in the first slag that was run off. In addition to the chemical action due to the combination of the oxide of iron with the silica of the lining, the violent convulsions produced by the jets of air have to be reckoned with, the waves of scoria and matte thrown against the sides of the converter, raised to a Very high temperature, complete the disintegration and destruction of the lining. It has also been attempted to line the interior of the apparatus with a suitable metallic surface, which is continuously cooled by a current of cold water. Another inconvenience then arises; the cooling action is too sudden and in particular at the moment when the reactions cease, the mass tends to solidify notwithstanding the rapidity of the operations. According to my present invention,instead of endeavoring to protect the entire interior surface of the apparatus, I only protect the most exposed parts, and the parts impossible to repair from prompt destruction, without stopping and cooling the converter.

In a converter, the part of the lining most exposed to wear, and in particular to the mechanical action of the matte, 850., is that round about the tuyeres, that is to say, about 0.40 meters above and below the line thereof, and it is impossible to employ refractory mortar to such part for repairing the same so long as the apparatus is not cooled and placed in the repairing shop. The two lateral faces forming the bases of the cylinder are less exposed to wear but the repairs are equally impossible there during the working of the apparatus. The two parts to be protected are therefore in the neighborhood of the line of the tuyeres and the bases of the cyli-nder,with the exception of the lateral part of these bases, which carries a manhole, allowing of the ready application of a disk or plug of fire clay. As to the breast of the converter, that is to say the part which receives the matte, when the apparatus is inclined at the moment of charging, the repair thereof is very simple. It suffices to incline the apparatus after having emptied it, for bringing it into a horizontal position. The small scorified layer is removed by means of a scraper and there are thrown thereon balls of moist refractory clay which are then pressed down by means of a flat presser. The operation lasts only a few minutes without requiring the converter to be cooled or the operation to be stopped. The parts to be protected that is to saythe bottom and the neighborhood of the tuyeres are provided with a serpentine pipe, through which water is made to circulate, thus forming a pro tecting water jacket.

The accompanying drawings show, in end View partlyin section at Figure l, and in longitudinal section at Fig.2, a converter provided with my improvements, and Fig. 3 is a mid cross section thereof through one of the tuyeres a and the wind box D.

In the neighborhood of the tuyeres a which may be supplied in any known way with air from any suitable wind box there is arranged in the direction of the generatrixof the cylinder A a series of pipes 11, by preference of copper, the ends of which are connected alternately by means of elbow pieces 0, externally of the converter, thus forming a serpentine. Each of the ends 13 is lined with a series of pipes (Z of almost circular form, the ends of which are joined to a cast iron box 0 fixed on the bottom of the converter. The box 0 is divided by transverse partitions e reaching near to the top of the box and serving to establish the communications between the neighboring ends of two separate tubes, so that the whole forms a serpentine jacket of zig zag form through which water under pressure is made to circulate in the direction indicated by the arrows. The arrangement is completed by the application of a cover which established the continuity of the serpentine pipes. The serpentine lining of the ends and the longitudinal serpentine lining are connected with each other in such a manner that the water circulates from the one to the other, entering at the hottest part and passing out through the coolest part.

Roman cement is generally employed for forming the tuyeres, and the filling between the pipes and the sheet metal as also the outer coating are made in the ordinary manner.

A converter provided with the above described improvements allows of the production of white matte containing seventy per cent. of copper, and also a sort of black matte exceeding eighty per cent., under the same conditions as though the operation were carried on without a water jacket and with all the pipes laid bare.

I claim as my invention- 1. In a converter for smelting copper, the combination with the refractory lining of a water jacket consisting of pipes through which water is made to circulate, situated at the part near the tuyeres and at the two ends which are difficult to repair, substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. In a converter for smelting copper, the combination with the lining of a water jacket composed of pipes I) connected by external elbow pieces 0, situated near the tuyeres a, and of curved pipes (1 connected to a box 0 and to the pipes b, for elfecting a continuous circulation of water through both sets of pipes, substantially as and for the purposes described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES VAT'IIER.

Witnesses:

LoUIs A. PELUTA, AUGUSTE MATTNEY. 

